In the budget plan from Walker, state funding for the UW System would be divided among the campuses by ranking the different schools against each other and considering performance factors such as average time to degree and overall graduation rates. Under this proposal from the governor, a report from Hillman finds that UW-Madison would be a winner, while UW-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside would lose out.

In the Journal Sentinel article, Hillman points out different UW campuses have different student populations and different missions. UW-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside include access as part of their institutional mission and may be more likely to serve nontraditional students or students that are not well-prepared for college, as opposed to UW-Madison, which is a selective university.

"It seems very rushed to me and does not seem to be tethered to some grand policy objective," Hillman told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "Maybe it's the governor's attempt to get it all on the table, to at least start the conversation."